LG And Iran Discuss Electric Car Developments And Production

LG International Corp. and the Iranian government signed a memorandum of understanding on a future electric car development program.

Full details and a binding agreement will reportedly be finalized by the end of this year as the two sides hash out the finer details.

According to reports, by 2018 the project assumes to build 20 electric cars (different models…not 20 in total), as well as installing a charging infrastructure in Tehran.

In the longer term, Iran would like see local electric car production reach 60,000 by 2023.

“Under the deal, LG International will work with local companies to develop electric vehicles and build charging stations. They also agreed to produce about 60,000 units of EVs by 2023.”

LG International Corp. as part of LG Group can provide a lot of expertise in both the EVs themselves and their lithium-ion batteries. The South Korean company is currently engaged in countless EV projects around the world, as well as in the GM’s Chevrolet Bolt EV, supplying many key parts.

“LG International will oversee the project jointly with the Iranian government. Other affiliates, such as LG Electronics, LG Chem and LG Innotek, will lead efforts to develop batteries, electric motors and key auto parts, the company said.”

Well Iran is not known for its forward thinking for transportation solutions, it is positive sign that another oil exporting country does see the future with zero emission vehicles planning a roll.

Iran lacks sufficient refineries to meet its petrol demand so, despite its big reserves of oil, it is probably more vulnerable than countries like Singapore that have no oil but plenty of refinery capacity. Singapore can always buy crude oil from the market, refined petrol or diesel is harder to come by in a crisis.

Hello Australian government are you listening? probably not, just keep building that Diesel import facility in Adelaide, it’s much cheaper than a refinery, she’ll be right.

I like the smiley face grill on the concept Bolt in the picture above. I doubt GM will put one on the production Bolt, doesn’t look enough like a GM product. GM could probably save a few dollars in production if they got rid of the fake grille.

I just had a thought about what this means or rather what we are moving towards.

I geuss lg will help develop an EV in Iran, perhaps setup a manufacturing facility and in return Iran will give access to its mineral reserves which will be used to manufacture batteries for the US auto market. It’d be great if the South Korean’s could build a bridge between Iran and the US.

The best way to win a war is to stop fighting, I know Iran and the US aren’t at war but it’d be good to see more positive moves in the Middle East.